Hungry in Ningbo

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Nine days after my scouting mission, I'm back at Yong Fu (甬府) sitting with The Hungry Tourist and his crew of, well, hungry tourists. This is only my friend's second time organizing a food tour of Hong Kong, and the first since 7 years ago. While they are clearly focusing on the "local" cuisine, we both thought that Yong Fu should be on the itinerary, since it represents the best that Hong Kong has to offer.

The menu tonight included a few seasonal dishes I had tried out last week, as well as some old favorites which have become quintessential. Some of the dishes were also chosen with the consideration that all the diners (except moi, of course) were non-Chinese guests from overseas.

Mud crab with mashed ginger and coriander (招牌十八斬) - this turned out to be more popular than I had expected. As usual, I did not partake when it came to raw crab.

Another northern expedition

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Someone thought it would be a good idea to take S all the way up north for some local flavor, and got us a booking for one of the private rooms at Sun Hon Kee Restaurant (新漢記). Foursheets and I love the place, but it's kinda far even for us locals, nevermind someone who is visiting. Well... somehow I ended up taking over as organizer, and invited The Great One as well as a couple of friends who were checking the place out for the first time.

As it was drizzling a little, we decided to make the long journey in a taxi. Funny that it was also a rainy night the last time we came...

Brother Hon seemed pretty happy to see Foursheets, even know I doubt he remembers our names. Nevertheless, we knew we were in good hands and there would be lots of food coming our way. Sure enough, there was a flurry of "small(ler)" dishes which arrived at our table in rapid-fire style...

Foie gras in 5 spice marinade sauce (鹵鵝肝) - never had this here before. Tasty, but the texture was a little on the dry and firm side. Still very smooth, though.

Pork tendon with shallot oil and soy dipping sauce (白烚豬前腿筋) - one of my perennial favorites here. I just can't resist tender, jiggly pork. That dipping sauce is just so tasty.

Old favorites get better

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I was casually chatting with one of My Favorite Cousin's friends a few weeks ago when she mentioned that she's never been able to dine at The Chairman (大班樓). This isn't particularly surprising, since a booking is difficult to come by unless you're a regular customer. I happened to have booked a table for tonight, and hadn't asked anyone else to join me, so I extended an invitation, and also reached out to other friends of My Favorite Cousin's to fill our little table of 4.

As I am, once again, taking someone here for the very first time, I had to overrule someone's wish to have an off-menu crab so that our newbie could have THAT crab. It's just one of those things.

Ginger and vinegar pig trotter terrine (甜醋子薑豬手豬耳凍) - I really, really love this starter. It's got the acidity from the vinegar and the slight kick from pickled ginger to help whet the appetite. It's also got the rich flavors from the diced pig trotter and pig's ears. I wonder if some of my dining companions realize this is based on the Cantonese dish of 豬腳薑？

Scouting mission

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I have the distinct misfortune of dining with B Bestie for the second in three nights, as I accepted an invitation to taste the new, seasonal spring dishes Chef Liu Zhen (刘震) has been developing at Yong Fu (甬府). As I am accompanying The Hungry Tourist on his visit next week and also responsible for helping to set the menu, I figured I should come on a scouting mission.

As I took a look around the table tonight, I realized that all but one of the Peanut Gang was here. We did have a couple of ladies with us, so we had to behave ourselves.

It must have been a while since I last had some mahua (麻花), and tonight I just couldn't stop eating this! I even ladled some of the house chopped chili sauce (主廚青椒醬) on top at one point...

No bluefin no beetroot

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Tonight I accepted an invitation from B Bestie to join a tasting at the brand-spanking-new Roganic, which opened for business yesterday after relocating to a posh new spot. I've paid infrequent visits since Simon Rogan first opened his outpost here in Hong Kong, and always held a favorable impression of their cuisine. So I didn't hesitate when B Bestie came calling.

Some of the VIPs had already tested things out last night, and hopefully provided their feedback. As for me, I was a little surprised at the new format, which no longer provides the option for the diner to have a lighter meal.

Drappier Carte d'Or, en magnum - I could smell the acidity on the nose. The palate was rather soft.

We started with a fixed selection of four snacks:

The sun rises from the west

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It was in September of 2014 that I last walked down the steps to the dining room of Ho Lee Fook (口利福). By that time I had already decided not to patronize outlets run by Black Sheep Restaurants, but made an exception to join The Great One on her review of the then-newly-opened restaurant. I managed to walk out alive and did not require any trips to the hospital, and since then have chosen not to tempt fate any further. My long-running boycott of Black Sheep continued for the next 10 years, and all my friends knew not to invite me when they chose to give them business.

My stance softened after a meeting with the restaurant group's founder in the middle of last year, and I did pay a visit to one of their restaurants for a casual lunch not long after. But I was otherwise in no rush to explore the restaurants in their portfolio, as I mostly stuck to places I am comfortable going to. There had to be a good reason for me to want to patronize one of their outlets.

That reason arrived on a flight from London today. S is back in town and wanted to check off more places on her hit list, and the first one was Ho Lee Fook. I did tell her that I was no longer averse to patronize Black Sheep Restaurants, and I would be willing to join her if she made the arrangements. So here I am... and I even roped in a couple of guys to come with us.

My friend had been in touch with Gabe about menu arrangements, and since I hadn't been here for 10 years, I left the choice entirely up to her. I knew that we would be getting some seafood from the market, the preparations of which sounded surprisingly traditional for a restaurant with a reputation for serving what Foursheets calls "gweilo-friendly Chinese food".

“Prawn Toast x Okonomiyaki”, Kewpie mayonnaise, Bull-Dog Sauce, shaved cabbage, aonori (「蝦多士 x 大阪燒」配丘比蛋黃醬、日式喼汁、椰菜絲及紫菜) - we were told that this has been "on the menu for 10 years", although I didn't manage to taste it the last time I was here.

Wine and goose

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We're back in Hong Kong and Foursheets decided to have a small dinner to welcome in the new year of the snake. We took our house guest to our current favorite Chiuchow restaurant Noble Imperial (尚御潮滷居), as authentic Chiuchow cuisine isn't easily available in Toronto

An order had been placed for flower crab when the booking was made, but the boss notified us upon arrival that they didn't have any decent ones to serve us, so a substitution was made.

Chilled razor clams Chiuchow-style (潮式凍蟶子) - this was something we always enjoyed on previous visits, and tonight the soy-and-chili sauce - with the Sichuan peppercorn oil numbing and tingling the tongue - managed to highlight the sweetness of the razor clams. Really fresh and delicious.